everything I have read makes it pretty clear to me that the only thing that saved the German Navy from destruction at Jutland was nightfall and poor visibility in the last part of the day
Sure, the Germans destroyed 3 armored cruisers and 3 battle cruisers, but damage to the main fleet is relatively minor, and while several of Beatty's ships needed extensive repair, the important and telling point is that the British Navy could easily have fought a battle the next day, while the German fleet had so many ships damaged that it could not. The main action only really lasted about 2 hours, with the battlecruiser action taking a little over an additional hour
If the two fleets had run into each other a couple of hours earlier my guess is that the Germans likely would have lost several more heavy units and the rest would have been out of service for months to come.. As it was, only 10 of the German Dreadnoughts (out of 18) and none of the 5 battlecruisers were fit for action, while the British had 23 battleships and 4 battlecruisers immediately available.
Nothing short of Calbear's blunt but accurate comment about divine intervention will give the Germans victory in this situation. You can even make the case that divine intervention saved the Germans from destruction.
as to the armored cruisers, they had no business being in this action as much as the German predreadnoughts. In both cases they were terribly vulnerable to the more advanced classes and merely ended up adding to the casualty count
Sure, the Germans destroyed 3 armored cruisers and 3 battle cruisers, but damage to the main fleet is relatively minor, and while several of Beatty's ships needed extensive repair, the important and telling point is that the British Navy could easily have fought a battle the next day, while the German fleet had so many ships damaged that it could not. The main action only really lasted about 2 hours, with the battlecruiser action taking a little over an additional hour
If the two fleets had run into each other a couple of hours earlier my guess is that the Germans likely would have lost several more heavy units and the rest would have been out of service for months to come.. As it was, only 10 of the German Dreadnoughts (out of 18) and none of the 5 battlecruisers were fit for action, while the British had 23 battleships and 4 battlecruisers immediately available.
Nothing short of Calbear's blunt but accurate comment about divine intervention will give the Germans victory in this situation. You can even make the case that divine intervention saved the Germans from destruction.
as to the armored cruisers, they had no business being in this action as much as the German predreadnoughts. In both cases they were terribly vulnerable to the more advanced classes and merely ended up adding to the casualty count